Watchcase.



J. K. WORRELL. WATOHOASE. APPLICATION FILED nnu.1o,1s09.

969,680. Patented Sept. 6, 1910.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES K. WORRELL, OF HUMBLE, TEXAS.

WA'ICI-ICASE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES K. WORRELL, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Humble, in the county of Harris and State of Texas,have invented new and useful Improvements in VVatchcases, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to watch cases and particularly to one employingstem-wind and stem-set mechanism, the object of the invention beingtoprovide a housing for the knurled finger-manipulating member of thewind ng and setting shaft and to provide effective means excluding theentrance of water, gas or oil into the casing, holding such substancesout of contact with the watch mechanism.

The above mentioned and other objects are attained by the construction,combination and arrangement of parts, as disclosed on the drawing, setforth in this specification, and particularly pointed out in theappended claim.

In the drawing, forming a portion of this specification and in whichlike numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views:Figure 1 is an elevation of my improved casing, parts being shown insection to clearly illustrate the invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontalsection taken through the casing.

My improved casing consists of a ma body-forming member 1 which ispreferably of cylindrical form. The member is formed with spacedparallel flanges 2 and 3 from which extends right angularly outwardlyextending flanges 4 which are exteriorly threaded as shown in Fig. 2 ofthe drawing.

The back 5 of the casing is formed adjacent its peripheral edge and uponits inner face with an enlarged portion 6 wh1ch is threaded interiorlyfor engaging the correspondingly threaded portion of the outwardlyextending flange 4: upon the wall 3. The wall 3 s formed with. anannular substantially semicircular cavity 7 in which the head 8 on theenlarged portion 6 of the back 5 is adapted to snugly fit. Theconstructlon so far described is such that the back when in its appliedposition will effectively exclude entrance into the casing of water, gasor 01]. or other injurious matter that might interfere with the properworking of the watch mechanism.

The flange 5 on the wall 2 has 1ts threads engaged with the interiorlythreaded portion Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 10, 1909.

Patented Sept. 6, 1910. Serial No. 532,457.

9 of a crystal retainer, the said retainer having formed thereon aninwardlv extending annular bead 1.1 which fits into a correspondinglyformed socket 12 in the wall 2. The crystalretaining member is adaptedfor adjustment on the flange 4 of the wall 2 to be tightly engagedtherewith to form an effective joint. The crystal retainer is formedwith a flanged oflset portion 13 against which is seated a crystal 14,the said crystal being confined preferably to the offset portion of thecrystal retainer by means of cement or its equivalent 15. Theconstruction of the crystal-retaining member is somewhat similar to theconstruction of the back 5 and the construction as described is suchthat foreign matter cannot enter the casing.

The ring-supporting member 16 at the outer end of the winding andsetting-shaftbearing 17 is formed with an exteriorly threaded flange 18to receive the interiorly threaded portion of a removable cap or housing19. The casing herein described and shown is intended principally to beused by those employed in oil fields, machine shops or like places wheregaseous surroundings are extremely injurious to the mechanism of awatch. By protecting the knurled manipulating member 20 of the windingshaft by the cap 19, the said member cannot be operated by one whosehands are muddy and it will be appreciated that before the winding orsetting shaft can be operated the cap or housing 19 must be removed. Inoil fields, machine shops or like places, workmen or mechanics usuallyprotect their hands by gloves and in their haste to ascertain the timeand to adjusttheir. watches they invariably wind or set the watchwithout removing their gloves. With the invention disclosed it will bereadily grasped that its user cannot wind or set the watch without firstremoving the cap or housing and to do this he necessarily would have toremove his gloves. The protecting cap or housing while serving to guardthe lmurled manipulating member 20 0f the winding shaft against cloggingby mud or other foreign matter through its, engagement with the head 1forms therewith an effective joint to exclude water, gas, oil or thelike from the case.

The construction of the main body member is such that a pair of annularshoulders is formed at the sides of each of the hereinbefore describedconcavities. Corresponding shoulders 11 are formed on the inner faces ofthe front and back members to engage the shoulders. This constructionorms a very effective joint and in connection with the concavities andthe beads which fit therein a erfect water and dust tight connection isormed. By constructing the main body member so that its opposite facesare identically formed the article may be manufactured at a minimumcost. It may be stated that the said front and back members aresubstantially identically formed on their inner faces at points wherethey fit the correspondingly formed faces of the main body member. Thisalso aflfords cheapness of construction as it will be seen that a toolor machine which is adapted to form the main body connecting portion ofeither of the front and back members can be used for forming both ofsuch members.

I claim A watch case comprising a main body member having identicallyformed front and back faces, each face being provided with an outwardlyextending threaded flange and formed adjacent to said flange with an annular concavity, a back member formed on its inner face with a threadedflange for engaging the flange on the back of the said main body memberand formed to provide it an annular head which is seated in theconcavity in the back face of the said main body member, acrystal-carrying member formed to provide a crystal-su pportin shoulderand provided outwardly of the said shoulder with a flange, the saidflange having a bead fitting in the concavity in the front face of thesaid body member and formed adjacent to the said bead with a threadedport-ion for engaging the threaded flange in the front face of the bodymember, the said body member having annular shoulders at each side ofthe said concavities, and shoulders formed on the front and back membersrespectively for engagement with the first named shoulders.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES K. WORRELL; Witnesses:

I. F. BAIN, W. H. ROBERTS.

